Saved by the Bell: The Complete Collection DVDReview

Is Saved by the Bell a good show? Not really. Is it an incredibly watchable show? Hell yes. Since 1989, the story of Zack Morris and his classmates has proven to be a continually popular and shockingly iconic piece of TV history. Whether you first saw it as a kid who looked up to the characters or as an older viewer who watched it all ironically, there was something about this show that struck a chord and many of us are likely way too familiar with these episodes than we should admit.

Considering how popular Saved by the Bell has continued to be through the years, it’s surprising it took this long to get a complete series collection (in the US that is - Canada got one last year!). But yes, here it is at last, Season 1-5 of the series, in one box set. Though just how “complete” you consider this collection to be is debatable.

Saved by the Bell Forever.

First off, no, the Good Morning, Miss Bliss episodes are not included. The 13-episodes Disney Channel series that begat Saved by the Bell, and included many of the same characters, has never been released on DVD. Apparently, this is because the rights to these episodes is much more complicated, with Disney and NBC both having partial ownership in them. While these are not “true” Saved by the Bell episodes (taking place in an entirely different state and with different histories for the characters), fans would obviously love to see them included… but alas, it's not to be.

Harder to overlook though is the fact that Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style is not a part of this set. That TV movie ran during the regular run of the series and in fact made it onto that aforementioned Canadian set, along with Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. While Wedding in Las Vegas could be said to more rightfully be part of The College Years series, Hawaiian Style is most certainly a part of the main Saved by the Bell series, so why isn’t it on here? One presumes it likely is also a rights issue, with those movies currently with a different distributor, but since those TV movies have been released here in the US, it's frustrating that Lionsgate (who distributed the Complete Collection) were unable to come to terms to get at least Hawaiian Style on this set.

Note: Those who aren’t super familiar with Saved by the Bell will likely think a lunatic wrote the paragraph above. They might be right, but look, Saved by the Bell has a complicated mythology, damn it!

All hail Kelly Kapowski!

So yeah, this is a complete collection in that it includes the regular Saved by the Bell episodes that ran from 1989-1993, but that’s it. With the exception of the clip-heavy “The Time Capsule” episode, which is placed last on the set (I guess because the wraparounds take place in the far future of 2003?), the episodes are presented in the order they aired. There has been some fan confusion about this, because of how episodes from the Malibu Sands era go back and forth with ones set back at Bayside, but this is indeed how they aired originally – Saturday morning airings would include two new episodes, alternating between the two settings/time frames. Again: Saved by the Bell keeps things complex!

These are the exact same transfers released previously in the season sets, with the same adequate/passable video and audio one would expect from a cheaply-made, 20-year old show. In terms of extras, there are several commentaries from those previous releases that retain the same issue as before – finding them! There are no Special Features or even Audio selection screens on these discs and the only way to even know if there is a commentary on a particular episode is by happening to choose one of those episodes, at which point you’re given your chance to turn on the commentary you didn't know existed until that point.

Where's our Max spinoff series?

One would hope they’d at least tell you where to find these commentaries on the packaging, but no luck there. In fact, an insert listing the episodes not only doesn’t tell you which have commentaries but also accidentally leaves off several of the final episodes from Season 5, giving the impression the set doesn’t include them, when they actually are on the discs.

The commentaries -- recorded by executive producer Peter Engel and cast members Dustin Diamond (“Screech”), Lark Voorhies (“Lisa”) and Dennis Haskins (“Mr. Belding”) -- are decent, as is a previously-released featurette about the making of the show, focused mainly on Engel and the writers.

There are also two newly-produced featurettes on a bonus disc. The 10-minute “Saturday Morning: From Toons to Teens” looks at how Saved by the Bell was a very successful and influential experiment, bringing a live-action sitcom to Saturday morning’s cartoon-filled world. Engel, Voorhies, Diamond and Haskins participate, along with former NBC executive Warren Littlefield, among others.

Still Screeching after all these years.

Running around 15 minutes, “It’s Alright: Back to the Bell” focuses more on the creation of Saved by the Bell. It’s a good featurette, talking about the show’s beginning as Good Morning, Good Miss Bliss through the odd Tori episodes, filmed after Elizabeth Berkeley and Tiffani Amber Thiessen had left the series, but airing before the graduation episode. People’s memories of course are never going to be perfect, which amusingly is obvious when Engel says Thiessen left because of her role on 90210 – even though she wouldn’t join that series for another couple of years and in fact would star on Saved by the Bell: The College Years in the interim.

The Verdict

It's fun to have a Saved by the Bell complete collection set, but it's too bad that this release doesn't truly feel complete, considering a couple of things left off it. The new extras are strong, but if you have the previous season sets, this isn't worth the upgrade. For those who are Bell-obsessed though and haven't purchased those DVDs, this is a very reasonably priced set ($49.98 - and that's before any discount/sale price most outlets will provide) that will let you take all the Time Outs you need to enjoy this very silly, yet very likeable series.

Saved by the Bell: The Complete Collection will be released on November 5th.